Alex Rider: Operation: The Tribal Regimen
by Little-dhamphir
Summary: Things were now starting to improve for Alex. He was the Captain for his high school soccer team and had a part time at a local dojo teaching karate classes. But, what happens when you are threatened with losing your new life? Torture. M rating ltr.
1. Chapter 1

AUTHOR'S NOTE: DO NOT READ UNTIL YOU HAVE FINSIHED READING SCORPIA RISING! THIS contains MAJOR book Spoils! You have been warned. Also, I dont not own the originality of the Alex Rider series. That belongs to Anthony Horowitz. However, I DO OWN this fanfiction BASED on the series. Please review when possible.

Alex Rider: Operation: The Tribal Regimine

It had been a year since Alex went up against Scorpia. Alex knew he made two simple mistakes: Refusing to say no to MI6 when they wanted him to spy again, and allowing Jack to come with him on his last mission to Cairo, Egypt. The consequence for making thises mistakes ended up being deadly and caused Alex emotional trauma that would remain with him for the rest of his life: watching Jack get murdered. Not to mention, Alex had finally taken a life with a gun. A real, cold, hard gun. One shot, and his enemy was killed. For Alex though, it was like watching himself die - blood pooling from the bullet wound in the head on the highway in Cairo. Now, Alex lived with the Pleasures. Alex still attended counseling twice a week. In two years, Alex would move back to London to resume living in his Chelsea home. Alex decided against selling his Uncle's house and lucked out as such. A young couple almost bought the house until two bankers from the Royal and General Bank stopped the transaction. It was reported later that the house had a faulty gas leak - or something like that. The couple panicked and backed out of their offer and the potential deal. A day later, the for sale sign was removed and the house had been empty since then. All this, Alex could tell was by Mrs. Jones 's doing when he sent her an email personally with a encrypted message of how he had been doing in his new residence and that he no longer wanted to sell the house. It really was all that he had left from his old life and wanted to keep it that way. Mrs. Jones sent a response that was coded as well with her answer.

Dear Mr. Rider;

Due to the mistakes made on behalf of the Bank here at the Royal and General, we regret to inform you that you are still bound by your deceased Uncle's will concerning of your fortune and the residence now in question. It is therefore that we also regret to inform you that the house cannot be sold against the deceased wishes from Mr. Ian Rider until you become of the age of 21. The house will therefore be removed from the market until your 21st birthday has passed.

Sincerely yours;

The Royal & General Bank

Of course, part of this email was a lie. Mrs. Jones had given Alex Rider full access to his Bank accound in London. As well as nine checks, one for each of his completed missions. Alex to the money that MI6 gave him and took the checks themselves to America with him. The money that Ian Rider had given him was left at the bank account The Ian himself gave to Alex, right within the Royal & General bank itself. When Alex arrived in America, he opened a bank account and deposited the converted checks from Euros to American dollars. Each individual check was worth $20,000 american dollars. Altogther, Alex now had $180,000 dollars in american cash and 367,000 in Euros. But the money didn't matter to the now 1/2 millionaire orphan. Alex only recieved all that money because everyone that he knew was murdered by Scorpia, and many people pitied him for it who also knew the truth.

*****  
Alex was laying on his back. His clock said that it was 5:30 in the morning. Alex had another nightmore about Julius Grief. Only this time it was watching Julius shoot Jack in the head while Alex was again strapped to the table - right in front of him. With a great effort, Alex slowly dragged himself out of the bed and went to go and take a hot shower. School would start in an hour and a half, Sabina would be up around 6 am. Just 30 minutes from now. Normally, Alex normally woke up around 6 am - like sabina. He was the first to use the bathroom. Claiming that Sabina would tarnish his perfect attendance record if he was ever late to school due to her slowpoking around in the bathroom. Both knew that the truth was far from that. After Alex was finished getting ready in the bathroom, Sabina would enter and she would begin as well. Each left the house around 7:30 am and Alex would drive to school. (AN: In America, you are legally able to drive at the age of 16, and Alex is 16 now in this story) Sabina would sit in the passenger seat and they both sang songs to the morning radio. Alex wasn't much for singing, but when he did, it brightened Sabina's day and it made him feel less guilty about intruding on the Pleasure's lives. At the mement, things were now beginning to improve. He felt no longer as depressed as he did when he first arrived to America a year ago. He also started to help teach karate at a local Karate Dojo. This is what really helped Alex more than anything. It made him feel closer to his deceased family, and made him want to prove to them that he really was not weak. Later today, Alex would be teaching two seperate lessons. One for the red belt group, and one for the yellow belt group. Alex was a first grade Dan and he was extremely proud of this. Alex smiled to himself as he turned left at an intersection to pull into his new school. Secretly, Alex was also teaching Sabina how to defend for herself, and she was rapidly learning new things from her hour sessions that she had twice a week. He was proud of her in more ways than one.

Alex and Sabina got out of the new 2012 Nissan Altima. It was a deep blue color with interior leather seats. Sabina Went her seperate way with Alex after calling a "Later!" to him. He didn't mind this at all as he went to join his friend Tom Harris. When Tom had found out where Alex went, he secretly convinced his mother to move to Las Angeles. Claiming that there were a lot of high paying law jobs that had recently become available there. Alex was no longer alone in his new school once Tom had arrived. Alex also thought that Mrs. Jones might have influenced this decision as well. Tom and his mother had recieved permenant visas so they could reside in the United States with hardly any effort at all. Tom was talking to a bunch of soccer jocks - who were also Alex's teammates as they all headed to the outdoor Cafteria tables to sit down at until the bell would ring for them to go to first period together. Tom and Alex had the same first period class: AP German. Alex decided to altogether give up on French. German was much easier to learn anyways. The Bell rang, and the Students at LeHigh gathered up their things to begin their descents down the hallways.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: I do not own the idea of Alex Rider or the book series. However, I do owe this fanfiction story and any copying of it without my permission will be reported to this website. Also, Alex has four classes each ead and lasts for 90 days. Then he switches to another set of classes for the last 90 days of his school year. Right now, he is taking his classes for the spring semester. Also, I switched the person-tense for the scene where Alex is teaching Sabina Karate. It is easier to describe how Alex is moving this way up until the end of the chapter in thrid tense. The rest of the chapter is in first tense. -

First period passed by in a total blur. It ranged from correcting various German compositions for grammer and vocabulary errors to communicating with an assigned German student (from Germany!) in both German and English. While communicating, I had to speak through various German accents and my "penpal" Annelie, practiced her English in various American (and sometimes English) accents. My teacher was Herr Braun. He's of German descent and can also speak Spanish. Annelie on the otherhand was born in raised just a little south of Berlin. She went into the big city every weekend to do various types of shopping for her and her family.

In my second period class, I had Art 1. Sabina and Tom were also in the same class. This class is by far the easiest I have ever taken. Tom was just starting his tessellation project (along with the majority of the class) where he had to create a piece of artwork by applying both rhythm and movement in his work. I on the other handwas completing my independent notes with the remaining class on Harmony, variety and unity. Sabina was also aking notes on the same thing as well as Ben, Alice and George. My grade in art was a 100 and it has been like that for the past 9 weeks. Sabina had a 98 and Tom had a 94.

Third period was Marine Biology. I was - in a way - stuck with this class. I tried to take Italian 1, but the teacher who taught it had to resign suddenly. She developed thyroid cancer. It's not that I do not like Marine Biology, it's just that I took it was I was attending Brookland. At least my new school allowed me to become a teacher assistant for the class. My weekly assignments were basically just running errands.

Fourth period was my last class of the day. Each class lasted about and hour and a half. This period was Biology - Honors. The class itself was not difficult at all - just... busy. Each night, I would spend an hour or two reading and annotating as much of the textbook chapters as I could. Once that was finished, I starteed on the assigned worksheets or began my vocabulary drills. The text in the textbook was easy to follow - if you understood what the big worsd meant.

On monday, Wednesday and Thrusday afternoons, I practiced various soccer drills with my team for two hours. Being one of the youngest soccer captains ever, I had a reputation to maintain. The first 30 minutes of each practice session, I was in control. Coach Henderson also taught baseball and therefore was unable to attend the beginning of each soccer practice.

"Alright everyone! Stretch time is over. Two mile run starting now! We have 25 minutes to run all eight laps around the track. Go!" I called out in a loud - but not quite at a yell voice. Groans erupted everywhere and I just smiled to myself. 'Wimps.' I thought. When I was in the SAS, I had to run 3.5 miles everyday. Tom who was also on the team, looked at me with a vicious grin. He knew the truth about me. Together, we began to run as well. At Brookland, it was required to run 2 miles, twice a week in gym. This was nothing for him as well.

Off in the distance, Sabina stood with the cheerleaders. They were huddled together over a stereo of some sort, clearly debating on the next music and cheer moves for the next cheerleading competition. Sabina was a flyer and loved every moment of it. She also played Volleyball and Tennis. Sabina was well known throughout the school.

"So Alex," Tom began once he cought up to me on the track, "What are you planning on doing this weekend?" I laughed.

"I dont know, yet. I'm free anytime after 12 pm. Why?" I replied as we turned the first corner of the track.

"I don't know. Wanna see a movie Saturday night? That new war film-" Tom stopped himself suddenly. He knew he accidently stepped into enemy territory when it can to anything about spies and wars. "Oh my god! Alex, I-I so sorry! I forgot." Tom was instantly worried. He knew how I felt about anything having to do with the military. "

It's fine tom. Don't worry. I'm doing better now. Let's go see that movie. I'd love to see the good guys kick some bad guy butt!" Tom laughed.

"You know Alex, If I did not know any better, I'd say that sounded a little forced. We were 2/3 down the long stretch of the track and was getting ready to round the turn that was comming up.

"Fine! You cought Me!" I replied. Throwing my hands into the air as if surrendering. "But really, I do want to go and see that movie with you." That was the truth, somewhat. I did want to go to see a movie with Tom. Any movie really. Just not that one.

"You sure? We could always drag Sabina and watch a chick-flick. You know its fun watching her squrim throughout those movies." Tom chuckled to himself. "You know she hates those."

I laughed again. It was true though. Sabina liked every movie genre except romance. Any other kind of movie and Sabina would go in an instant. I knew this because she would tell me how these types of movies were always too slow and that nothing really good ever happened. Pkus, screaming girls really was not her thing. If there was any other movie in a different genre, that still had a little romance in it. It was not a problem. There was always the non-romance scenes that she looked foreward to that would keep her attention. "No Tom. The first one you mentioned is good enough." I replied as we rounded the second turn.

After practice was over, I took a shower in the boys locker room before heading out to wait by the car. Shortly after, Sabina arrived and she drove us to the karate dojo where my classes waited for me. Sabina always waited while I taught both of the hour-long lessons to a group of kids - one for the yellow belt group and the other for the red belt group. After the hour long session for the red belt group was finished, Sabina and I would have the studio to ourselves. Sensei Ricardi, would tell me to close up for the night once Sabina and I were finished, he even gave me a spare set of keys to keep to help with that task more easily. This didn't bother me at all though - what was about to happen (though I didn't know it at the time) did.

"Sabina, I'm finished now. Come join me on the mats." I called out to her.

"Okay. Let me put my homework up first." She replied. Two minutes later, she was out on the mats, ready to go. "So, what do you want to teach me oh wise and all knowning one." She smriked. Good old Sabina.

"How about some respect? I could always make you do push-ups." My restort was a joke and she knew it. Her reply is even better.

"With pleasure, do you want me to do that with one hand or two? Cause I can do it with one finger." Her face was straight and serious now. I copied her facial look with ease.

"That wont be necessary. Let's start with the side thrust kick."

"Okay." Sabina brightened up. Kicking was her favorite thing about karate, like me.

"Alright. So, to start this move, you are going to go into the kibidachi(AN: Sorry if I butchered this name!) stance. Like so." Alex effortlessly moved into the stance. He stood with his legas apart while moving his elbows behind him. His shoulders were back and his fists were balled up. "Now, this move works the best when a guard is on the left or right side of you. You are going to bring your foot to your knee. Now move your leg out. Your leg should be straight and your knee should be leg with the leg - straight basically. Not bendt." Alex was informing Sabina all this while he moved though each motion. "Make sure you aim for your opponets knees. This move will cause him to bend down enough for you to deliver the final blow. Once you have struck his knee, you will need to bring you leg back in like so. Then move it down and back into your fighting stance. Now, you try." Alex finished.

Alex worked with Sabina for about 40 minutes on this move before finishing up with reviewing of the basic forms of blocking like the rising and fack blocks. Then, Sabina let her guard down when she wasn't supposed to. Alex attacked , as promised as while ago when he started teaching Sabina karate. Quickly realizing the situation, Sabina reacted quickly and blocked Alex's roundhouse kick.

"What in the hell are you doing Alex?" Sabina shouted.

"You let your guard down when you were not supposed to. So, I attacked."

Alex was moving back into his position, ready to respond with a move from Sabina if he needed to.

"Yeah, because the lesson is over now. It's been an hour." Sabina snapped back. Fury shown in her eyes. Causing Alex to almost flinch.

"Yes, Sabina, you are right about the time. But, if you let your guard down, even for one second, can cost you your life." A quick emotion flashed accross Alex's eyes. Sadness and despair. It was what costed Ian his life.

"Oh." Sabina was quick to understand what had happened. "I understand now." Then without warning, Sabina lashed out using the side thrust kick and kicked Alex in the knee. Hard. Alex's face twisted in pain. Sure enough, a nasty bruise had formed and was now showing its ugliness.

"Ow! Sabina, I didn't mean it like that!"

A moment later, Alex replied: "Let's get going now. It's almost 9." With that Sabina and Alex gathered their things. Sabina walked out of the studio while Alex limped out. Alex locked up the studio for the night and he drove them home. He was glad that it was his left knee that took the hit and not his right. Sabina sucked at driving at night. Alex was starving and he had a lot of homework to complete. He didn't go to bed until 1:30 in the morning. The same was for Sabina.


	3. Chapter 3

AROTTR: Chapter three

Author's Note: I made a mistake in the last two chapters, Alex Rider DOES NOT live in Las Angeles. Instead, he lives in San Francisco. Like I said Earlier, I DO NOT own Alex Rider, nor the novels that are associated with the fiction character. However, I do own this fanfiction story and the thought processes and the time it takes to write this story.

Reviews are always helpful. If you ever want me to read your story and send you a private review, then please send me a private message and not post this request among the reviews. No one has done that yet, but I dont want that to start either. Thank you.

Alex Rider: Operation: The Tribal Regimen: Chapter Three

Location: Tubingen, Germany (add two dots over the letter u); A city that is located Southwest of Stuttgart, Germany. Time: 21:00:00 (or 9 O'clock Pm; Germany)

"Good evening Gentlemen and ladies," A silhouetted man stated quietly in the dim lighting of the conference room. The only light that seemed to shine was the illuminated table top that glowed dimly and the presentation slideshow that was behind the man. Around the long, ovicular table sat four other men and two women. "Behind me is the monthly report generated by our fellow members in the Tribal Regimen based on the supply and demand of children and teenagers around the globe." At that moment, the slideshow flicked to the next slide and showed a business graph with a large arrowing moving up and down; connecting various points among the line graph itself. On the graph, everyone who was at the meeting could see that the graph itself had dropped by 30 points. "As you can see here, the black market is in current need of kidnapped children. There is too much demand versus supply and our income is dropping as a result. I say that we focus our sights on the city of Las Angeles, Calfornia, United States. There are a lot of children living there and it will be easy to remove some kids without raising too much attention. There is much profit to be made in this city. Not to mention transportation would be effortless as well. Is there any discussion?"\

"I have a question," A gruff, South African voice responded as its sound reverberated around the room. "Why not focus our sights on the city of London? It's much more populated than Las Angeles."

"Because," the silhouetted man replied. "We do not want to take the chance of kidnapping someone of extreme importance. We're still a new criminal organization. What makes us stand out is the fact that we have remained under the radar for the past two years - so to speak. By kidnapping someone of importance, we could expose ourselves too early, causing a potential downfall. That was one of Scorpia's mistakes. The longer we remain hidden, the better we can inflict future damage on the world. Plus, I personally do not want to cross paths with a famous teenage spy. My sources still say that he still lives in London and calls himself 'Alex Rider'. Ironically, he lives in the same city that you mentioned."

The room remained silent. No one dared to interupt their leader and Founder of the Tribal Regimen. The four men and the two women all knew that he was right. Their organization had been formed in 2010. They were already responsible for multiple assassinations - all of which turned into cold cases due to a lack of evidence. Not to mention countless bombings accross the middle east (the Tribal Regimen made each bombing look like Al Queada was involved in it when they never were), multiple kidnappings and importation of millions of immigrants to various countries like the United States, Great Britian, Australia, among others!  
"Well then," A young female replied. "We still face that threat if we begin a new kidnapping cell in Las Angeles. There is just too many influential families that have children living there. I say we focus our sights on the city of San Francisco, Calfornia, United States. A lot more children live there and much of them are not famous at all." Again, the room was silent. Everyone knew that the young female had made VERY good points in her retort. What amazed the men even more was that she was only 18!

"Never considered that thought from the perspective that you brought up. San Francisco would be the best addition then to include to the list of cities where our kidnapping cells reside in.I say that we continue training new recruits who have already passed the TRBC training on the art of kidnapping and illegal child exportation. By the end of this week, I want eight empty warehouses bought and converted immediately. We start kidnapping in san francisco in three weeks." The silhouetted spoke once more. then, the meeting moved onto international security, and the board member's own personal security as the slideshow continued to flicker away. later, the meeting was adjourned. All five men and both women left one-by-one with a two minute pause in between each departure from the room. this was one of the many forms of security that the board members from the Tribal Regimen practiced.

When the last man left, he went straight to his car; stepping inside it carefully to avoid having his ankles slashed from a potential attacker. He started his car and pulled out of the parking lot in the large shopping plaza. It was 02:13:45 (or 2:13 am) in the morning. No one was shopping, but, as the man pulled out of his parking position, so did two other cars. All three cars drove towards the man's apartment.

It was a Yoo Berlin Luxury Apartment. The cars that followed him home were company cars and the driver and passenger in both cars were the mans' personal body guards. The man knew that he did not need the guards, it was just a precaution that he took on a daily basis. Six hours later, all three cars arrived in Berlin and parked in a nearby parking garage before heading straight to the man's apartment. Each man carried a suitcase that carried various ammounts of explosives as well as guns and knives in brief cases.

As the five people entered the front lobby, the board member and two of his guards went straight to the elevators that would take him to the top floor. The remaining two men took the stairs. Their job was to rush to the top of the stairs and give a thorough inspection of the apartment before the board member arrived. Thank god that the elevators were slower than the men themselves. The men who went up the stairs were dressed in business style clothing. They looked like lawyers who both had a rough night while discussing the latest laws that their office was able to help convince to be passed. The other two guards in the elevator was a man and a woman. Both acted like they were a couple, huddled around the woman's stomach (but still very close to their charge). Both the man and woman discussed the potential baby names while the woman rubbed her stomach. Of course, it was only just an act. The guards in the elevator knew that it was easy to carry explosives among other things in the briefcases at the apartment. Just another type of security measure that ensured that their boss would not get attacked by any person, or thing in his own home that might cause him to obtain bodily harm. When the couple recieved that all clear text, they would allow their charge to continue. The Tribal Regimen did not take any chances with anything that would ruin their up-and-comming status among the criminal world.

When the man entered his apartment, one guard followed him inside as well. The remaining three guards entered the apartment that was beside their charges to help continue their monitoring there. The lowly guard inside the boardmembers apartment took his station by the door. He six hour shift had just begun.

The man himself went straight to his bathroom to turn on his shower so he could have a hot shower. As he waited for the water to warm up, he went straight to his bedroom. The man walked stright to his bedside table and picked up a picture frame that laid on the table. The photo that was contained within the expensive frame showed a man and boy sitting side-by-side. The boy had an athletic build to him and had blond hair as well. The man smiled a sad smile. He had not seen the boy in years. Silently, the man begged to himself. Hoping that the boy in the picture was not the same boy who was mentioned earlier that night at the board meeting who lived in London. London was a large city, the man was glad he completed research a long time ago. He pulled up a list of names of everyone who lived in or around the city of London. When he searched for 'Alex Rider' four names popped up. With that thought, the man prayed to himself that his fellow collegues were talking about any of the other three Alex Riders. Then the man left his room, stripped in the bathroom and stepped into the hot water that was now giving off steam. It was now 8 in the morning.

******************  
Half-way across the globe, Alex sat at his desk. In San Francisco, it was midnight and Alex was finishing his marine biology teacher assistant assignments for the next neek of classes, not to mention grading the daily quiz that the students in the marine biology class took earlier that day. When the grading was finished, alex took out a highlighter and read chapter 10, highlighting 70 parts of the chapter. These woule be the answers to the next chapter's reading logs. Alex's teacher was Mrs. Katz had told him to type up all the questions as well. This was tedious work and Alex hated every moment of it.

Once Alex was finished with that assignment, Alex began his Ap German assignments. He had to write a story (200 pages by the end of the year in german) in german about a topic of his choosing. Alex chose to write about one of his missions that he would call later on as 'Eagle Strike'. Alex wanted to take the easy way out and he chose this prompt. Alex knew that MI6 forbade him from writing any of his missions. And honestly, he didn't care anymore. Alex was still careful. He changed the names of all the people who were turned into characters and inserted fake scenes while deleting some real moments. Alex knew that MI6 couldn't do anything to him when they were more than 6 ahead of him! When Alex finished pages 112-115, he bagan his biology homework.

Alex's biology homework was completing cascades for chapters 35-42 for an upcomming test in his biology class. All alex did was just annotate each chapter and copied all the vocab terms down. This work was just as boring as the Marine Biology assignments themselves. Once alex finished annotating the third chapter (he completed the first two over the weekend), Alex dropped all the books onto the floor and went straight to bed. It was now one thirty in the morning (AN: This is where Ch. 2 is continued for alex. Hence, the same time) and he fell asleep the moment he touched the covers and slid beneath them into the warm bed. 


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Okay, I will have to admit that this is NOT one of my best chapters to date yet, but I just couldn't keep anyone waiting. This chapter is set of three different points of view and is in third person I have a reason as to why the points of views are constantly changing. This also explains why this chapter is longer than the pervious chapters. Thanks to all who have reviewed this story so far! It's helped out a lot.

Also, My word document program DOES NOT work right now. I'm using the notebook application at the moment. If you catch any spelling or grammatical errors, please ignore them for now until the errors are so bad that it interferes with the book series (the real book series) itself.

Also, I do NOT own the character of Alex Rider, nor do I own the series itself. However, I do own this particular fanfiction story. Need proof? I'll provide photographic evidence.

Chapter 4:

A phone rang in the distance. It was six in the morning. If it had not been for the phone interrupting Alex's latest nightmare, the his nightmare would have turned into a night terror. It was those kinds of dreams that would showcase Jack's death once again. Pain, despair, and misery always engulfed Alex as he kept seeing the fiery explosion over and over again. Alex's dreams would normally start out with finding the note that Scorpia left for him in his apartment. Then, he would walk to the meeting place and would purposely be taken hostage, before watching Jack die. This time, the dream started out differently. Alex was heading home from another day of school. As alex passed the apartment's swimming pool, he heard a scream. It was the type of piercing scream that sent chills down one's back as it was filled with terror. Immediately, Alex went into spy mode; dropping his school bag to the ground so he could increase his running speed and distance more easily towards the pool itself. Upon his arrival was none other than Julius Grief. Jack was in Julius's arm lock (his left arm to be exact) while his right arm held a knife to her throat. Tears were falling at a rapid rate down Jack's face while terror was plastered on her face as well. Never had Alex felt even more helpless in his life. His dream self did not plan on giving up anytime soon. In a desperate attempt, Alex tried to beg and plead to Julius to let Jack go. Alex even reminded Julius that revenge would feel a lot better when the damage was inflicted directly onto the hated person rather than through someone else. If he killed Jack, it would remain on his concious for the rest of his life as well as knowing that Alex would still be alive and kicking as he lived yet another day. Julius did not listen. He never listened to Alex. The knife moved, creating a thin gash on the left side of Jack's neck-

Alex never saw the knife reach its 'cause that was when the phone rang. Alex cried quietly. He never felt more of an orphan his whole life. Even Sabina and her family could not fill the empty void Scorpia created for Alex and none of it was completely Alex's bidding, he never wanted it to begin it. A hatred engulfed Alex (which brought on even more tears) if it had not been for good and evil existing in the first place, Alex would have had a perfect life. Forget the millions upon millions of lives that he saved during his time that he served for MI6. Why should these people live and not the five people who mattered most to Alex? It felt like that with each successful mission that Alex finished, he was punished rather than rewarded. A knock sounded on his door. The voice that followed it was filled with nothing but misery and concern for Alex. "Alex? Are you alright?" It was Sabina's voice that spoke as she turned the knob to let herself into Alex's room. "Oh my god. Alex..." "Please, Sab. Go. Not to be mean or anything, I just dont want to be around anyone right now." Alex replief stiffly. He hated hurting Sabina, but what good was Alex to her? Even a Scorpia Assassian tried to kill Sabina's father at one point. No matter where Alex went, death followed him. Even now, Sabina and her family was in danger, just by Alex's emotions alone. Sabina nodded her head once; then turned to leave. Sat sat for five more minutes. He knew that school was waiting for him this morning. Not to mention Tom. Again, Alex felt another wave of despair. If it wasn't for Alex, then Tom would have never been shot. Alex knew, that this would be a long day.

"Good Morning, Agent Daniels."

"Good Morning to you Mrs. Jones. What did you want to speak to me about? Does this concern a national crisis?"

"Not really, no." This was a short reply from none other than Mrs. Jones. The head of MI6 operations. Her deputy was currently in Saudi Arabia. Something to do with obtaining information from a recently caught terrorist cell along with some American Secret Service men. Ben knew that Mrs. Jones was truly addicted to peppermints. It was a wonder that no one spiked any of the peppermints yet either. Habits were frowned upon in the spy world. It killed people. "What I wanted to speak to you was you completing a surveilence mission for MI6 for three days. I want to you go to San Francisco to evaluate one of our former agents so his file can be updated. The Agent's name is Alex Rider. I do not want to you let him find you. I also want you to send daily reports as well on anything and everything that he does. We need to see how he has coped since his final mission with Scorpia. Your plane will leave at o'eight hundred hours tomorrow. You will also be residing in the Hampton hotel near Alex's residence."

Ben sat quietly. He knew that Mrs. Jones was not finished yet. His thoughts were confirmed when she spoke again. "Here is the file that we have on Alex Rider." Mrs. Jones slid a massive file accross her desk. Ben simply picked it up and laid it on his lap as she continued. On the folder, there was a thick stamp, that blocked in two words: Top Secret. "Update it for us, Agent Daniels. You're dismissed."

Mrs. Jones stood up to let Agent Daniels out of her room. Mrs. Jones also gave Ben a yellow manilla envelope that conntained extensive procedures for this mission. He accepted the folder as he left her room. Ben had mixed feelings and wondered how Alex had managed to go to San Francisco. He didn't like how MI6 still watched over Alex - like a hawk that was watching its next meal... a field mouse. But, ben did as he was told. He headed straight home so he could pack and begin to memorize all the important information that was presented to him as well.

When Michael Strome woke that evening, he found a letter laying on his bedside table. Curious, he opened the letter. What it contained inside was this:

"Dear Michael Strome,"

You have been given orders to accompany Rebecca Lyell to San Francisco to finalize the remaining stages of our new kidnapping celldivision as enacted by our leader: Gunter(2 dots over the u) Hans Giorno the III. Be prepared to leave as soon as possible. Contained in a package that can be found on your kitchen table is the false passport and a flash drive that contains extensive details of your task. Should you need any self defense, the flash drive and transform into a small handheld knife. You will remain in San Francisco for three weeks. Before you leave the city, be sure that 12 children are kidnapped. They are to be drugged and transported to Spain until they are sold as slaves on the black market. Be careful who you choose. Do not attract any more attention that what is necessary. Once you have read - and commited this letter to memory... burn it.

Sincerely Yours,  
The Tribal Regimen

"Well," said Michael Strome, "Guess I have a new task to complete now." Michael sighed to himself. He hated having to have to complete this particular assignment, but Michael knew not to voice this out loud to himself. Doing so would mean disloyalty to the Tribal Regimen. Too bad, he still had to deal with Rebecca Lyell. She was your classic, total bitch. Her attitude made her a terrifying person to be around with. You never wanted to piss her off. Her methods of torture was beyond sick and cruel. The last time Michael saw her torture someone, it caused him to get violently sick and he threw up. What made the situation more unique is that Michael was a leading expert as well. Rebecca, on the other hand was just a little better - and a lot more creative than Michael.

Michael did what the letter told him to do. He read it, memorized it, then burned it in his kitchen sink, watching the ashes dissolve into the water running water and down the drain. In the package that was found to be lying on Michael's kitchen table was a booklet containing 244 pages of detailed information. He was the new Deputy head of yet another aspect of the Tribal Regimen's organization itself while directing security and bomb usage. This was going to be a long and grim trip for him. The sooner he left, the better. An hour and a half later, Michael was packed and he headed off to the airport.

"... Students; dont forget that this Friday night is the Sadies Hawkins Dance. (AN: This chapter takes place on a Tuesday) Don't forget to buy your tickets now while they are still $10.00. Prices will go up at the door come the night of the dance. Remember, this is a girls-ask-guys dance. See you there!"

The secretary at LeHigh High School would not shut up! Thought Alex. She was just as some of the self conceited criminals that Alex went up against a little over a year ago. What made her special was torturing the students during the afternoon announcements. She reminded Alex of how those men - even then, could not shut up like her. His migraine didn't help either as it throbbed painfully in conjunction with every spoken word she voiced out over the intercom.

It was almost the end of the day. Alex called in sick earlier. He wasn't in the mood to teach the back-to-back white belt lessons that evening. Since it was tuesday, there was no soccer practice. Instead, Alex was looking foreward to a long and exhausting physical run. He hoped that by overexerting himself, he would be too tired to dream this evening. Seeing Jack die once was bad enough. Seeing Jack die more than 100 times only made things worse. Alex wondered if this was how Ian had felt shortly after his brother died by the same people that had killed Jack as well so many years ago. If so, how did he cope? It was times like these that Alex wished all the more that his Uncle was still alive. At least then, Alex could ask for advice that someone could be able to relate to.

A few seats in front of Alex sat Sabina. Sabina secretly passed a note to Danny Estridge. When danny read the note, he turned to face Sabina and said that he would love to go to the dance with such a pretty woman in a low voice. Beside Alex sat Tom. When he too saw the note exchange, his mouth dropped.

"Dude..." Was all that Tom could say.

"Can it Tom, or I swear, I will silence you." was Alex's only reply. His day plummeted even more with the realization that Sabina would not be going to the dance with him - though he knew that would have been creepy nowadays.

Alex, legally, was Sabina's adoptive brother, but that did not mean that he still didn't have feelings for her as well. At least he was able to keep his name, this would come in handly when - or if Sabina and Alex dated again after Alex turned 18. Alex wanted to desperately run his troubles away even more now. Not to mention, a few sleeping pills wouldn't kill him either. As long as he he didn't dream again tonight and he wake up on Wednesday morning. Could life get any worse?

It did. Today's Biology lesson was reproduction and how animals respond to mating calls. Yeah... it did.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: SORRY! I tried to update this last night but was unable to due to unfortunate weather conditions. A severe thunderstorm knocked the power out all acroos the town I live and I did not get it back until recently. Here is chapter 5 for you. I did not mean for this to be late. Also, I HATE having to type "New POV" into my stories. To me, it looks less professional, but FanFiction is not letting me use the triple stars to show the new points of views. Sorry about that if it bothers you as well. If you know how to fix that, then please let me know. If not, the please dont comment on that.

Disclaimer: I do not own the character Alex Rider nor the series itself. That belongs to Anthony Horowitz. However, I do own this fanfiction and will not tolerate plajourism of any sort. If you want to use part of my story, then please email me with all the information about it.

~ Little-Dhamphir-

Chapter 5!

Alex got what he finally wanted for so long - a dreamless night. It was the first time in months since he slept through a single night; dream not a single dream; a wake up feeling energized. Alex felt much better.

Normally, Alex awoke feeling more tired than he had felt when he first went to bed. What made Alex's day shockingly better was a cloudy, constant rain. Just like the ones he grew up with while living in London. When it rained, it helped to alleviate some of his homesickness. Too bad the rest of San Francisco would be in a bad mood.

The Pleasures were also in a equally good mood. The rain reminded them of home as well. Liz Pleasure even saw it fitting to cook a good breakfast this morning - as a testament of laid ahead later that day. She cooked scrambled eggs (which tasted nothing like Jack's did, but still tasted just as great), bacon,, toast, oatmeal, and a fruit puree for each of the family members. Normally, Liz was too busy to cook at all during the weekdays.

Alex decided that it would be best to go into the karate studio to teach some of Sensei Ricardi's classes to alleviate some of the Sensei's stress. Tomorrow, Alex would be teaching another two classes as well as attending one of his private sessions with his psychologist - whom Alex hated so much.

Alex thought about all of that as he and Sabina left the house. They both got into their shared car and drove to school. As Alex was driving, he wasn't paying enough attention to his surroundings. A young man was stationed near one of the parked cars accross the street in the massive subdivision that Alex was currently living in. This was Alex's first mistake that he had made in a long time. The young man snapped photos of both Alex and Sabina. Smiling to himself. He knew that he was doing a good job so far. Even pleasing his superiors. The camera he held in his hand was a top of the line waterproof camera: a Fuji Finepix z33wp. Or at least, what he thought was the top of the line. Satisified with himself, the young man walked down the street and got into his car that was parked a short distance away. His next task was to log all the pertinent information about what he had seen.

First period passed by in a slow blur. Everyone was tired because of the rain - except for Alex, who did not show his excitment. Even Herr Braun was tired as well. Herr Braun popped in the movie called Mulan into his classroom television while telling his students to write down any German words that they did not know. This was just in case the principal or one of the vice-principals decided to walk in - to create the appearance of learning.

In art class, we completed evaluations of everyone's artwork. Once when the students finished evaluating. They sat off to the side of the classroom. In one corner, sat Sabina, Tom and Alex. They were quietly talking about all the sports practices and games that would be cancelled later today and which ones were already cancelled. Sure enough, the intercom buzzed once again to deliever some news:

"Teachers, please pardon the interruption. All soccer, lacrosse, baseball, and softball practices have been cancelled. Thank you."

Around the room, various groans and cheers erupted among the large class.

"Sweet!" Shouted Tom. "Now Alex can't torture us with suicide soccer drills!" Sabina and Alex laughed at this.

"You know Tom, suicide drills are not that bad. I only make us do 6. In this SAS, I had to complete 20 suicide drills in one hour at three different times in the day. All the men had to do 35 in a single hour. Not to mention we're just kicking a ball back and forth accross the soccer field. Not running with 30 pound backpacks."

"But still Alex, they're suicide! And I'm always sore afterwards for two days or more!"

"But..." Came Alex's retort back to Tom. "If it wasn't for them, most of us wouldn't be able to run as fast accross the field and score amazing goals. You have to admit, we've won more games this year than the last two combined."

"True." Tom Sighed. "Does that mean we're running 12 suicide drills during the next soccer practice?" Tom looked terrified for the next answer.

"Oh god no!" Alex laughed. "THAT would be real suicide. Even I could barely manage that right now."

Third period was ridiculously slow. The whole period, Alex ran errands, or finished typing up the 83 book questions for chapter nine. The class itself had it much worse than Alex did today. They took 90 detailed slides on chapters 7, 8, and 9 (AN: THIS IS suicide. I actually had to do this before and my hand litterally ached for three days afterwards and I always write a lot.) as well as drawing multiple diagrams into their notebooks. Alex pitied them.

Fourth period ended Alex's day off in a similar fashions as first and second periods did. He completed a chapter of cascades. The remaining period, was spendt texting to all of Alex's friends. For Alex, this was an easy day. It was not slow, nor too demanding and it didn't bother him at all. Even his schedule opened up a little more with the cancellation of soccer practice. Homework was light as well. He had no AP German assignments due tomorrow, and no marine biology work to complete that night. Only one chapter of Biology - Honors of cascades to complete and a painting to paint for art class.

New POV

14:15:33 pm:

'Alex is still in school. According to his file, he is a sophomore currently taking an Advanced Placement class (AP), an honors level class, a teacher assisting period and an easy class. I am posing as a substitute teacher: Mr. Burns. This helps me to get a better evaluation on Alex - who he is now and what has he been doing this past year while living in San Francisco. According to the psychologist Mrs. Jones hired for Alex, the psychologist states that: "Alex is slowly overcomming the remaining trigger symptoms of PTSD - which was brought on the murder of his deceased housekeeper and guardian, but still struggles badly in overcomming his nightmares." Ben knew that this is the main reason that Alex still went to therapy twice a week. One on Wednesday and the other session on Sunday. It wasn't the PTSD symptoms that Alex experienced that still made him come to therapy. It was the nightmares themselves. '...

Ben sighed to himself. He sucked at writing evaluations. He preferred the more "action - intense" missions. Not the missions where you simply gathered information on. What made Ben situation more depressing was that he could not speak to Alex directly either - under direct orders from Mrs. Jones. At least Ben knew the day would be over soon. Ben looked at his watch once again, it said that it was 14:36:15 now.

Michael Strome arrived a little earlier that day. Flying in the company jet that was worth millions of dollars. Or, a pretty penny as some would say. He bypassed customs by using the VIP line - a luxury, he recently acquired through this multiple successful achievements in the Tribal Regimen's organization.

At the entrance to the airpost's main lobby stood Rebecca lyell. She was clearly pissed and the varoius wolf whistling did not help at all either. Michael chuckled to himself. The men whistling at her had no clue what they were doing and he knew that the men would not make it out unscathed either. Michael felt sorry for the men, but that didn't matter now. His current job did.

"Liz! You look great honey. How's the family?" Michael asked Rebecca. He played the part of the loving husband very well.

"Family's doing well. Finally settled in and working now. Katherine is just kicking to see you, my dear." Rebecca into her character effortlessly from the murderous looks she was giving a moment ago to a concerned and loving mother. All the guys who had wolf whistled finally saw the "ring" she wore, amist the crowded entrance, now moved quickly away as possible. No one wanted to piss off the supermodel's heavyset husband who clearly worked for security. Even his deep navy blue suit and grey tie that screamed: "Watch out! I'm lethal!"

"Well honey, that is great news indeed." Michael Strome spokewhile kissing his wife's cheek - and never missing a beat, spoke: "let's go home."

Both Michael and Rebecca turned to walk away. Rebecca's high heels, serious business skirt and her striking blue blouse tucked neatly away into the skirt itself showed people that the husband and wife had serious money, holding hands along the way to their private limo.

New POV

Across the city of San Francisco, the young man compiled hundreds of photos into a large document. All of these photographs were images of children and teenagers. Each child unique and all had a shine to their eyes, except for one teenage boy. His eyes showed too much. It didn't matter though. Each child had two pages in the document. One containing basic information about them: eye, skin and hair color; estimated height; relative age; home address etc. The other page had 4-6 photos of each child doing various things. The young man knew what would happen to every child and teenager he photogreaphed. Starting tomorrow, the kidnappings would begin until the last child was kidnapped - in January of the following year. Spacing the kidnappings would make it harder for the Tribal Regimen to be traced back to - but it also meant that they would have to be more creative as the time went on.

At 18:30:12 pm, this evening, the young man would produce and present his results to the two exectutive Tribal Regimen leaders. If the man was sucessful, then he would become an inductee into the organization itself. Going to the secret, underground, basic boot camp held in the Ivory Coast. If the man failed, it would be a permenant end to his current career. The man was not afraid.

In one of the old three warehouses (that had been purchased recently) construction was underway. Prison cells were designed and the three hired interior designers worked hard to design the individual male, female, and coed group cells. Not to mention the kitchen, living quarters for the employees and guards, as well as the library, gym and fully operational security and medical offices. Nothing was to be left to chance. All the supplies was ready to be brought into the almost refurbished warehouse. Over 500 people worked around the clock to finish it. They were tight on time as it was. The first warehouse had to be finished before 7 pm the next evening. Everything had to be perfect.

At the current rate that had all the workers working, the warehouse had be projected to be finished around three pmthe next day. They had 4 hours to fall back on if something happened. Fiver kids were due to arrive afterwards before 2am. Even now, the auctions began for all five kids. The total net worth at the moment was $6.2 million dollars. Each warehouse costed $40 million, the bids were still increasing all the same. What was about to unfold for the first five kids would be highly unpleasant. No one who was employed in this project gave this a second thought. For fear that they may change their minds. When that happened, hope would be lost for the male and female employee's that had been hired already. One mistake, and Rebecca Lyell would play with them. This terrified the employees more than the crimes comitted alone.


	6. Chapter 6

Authors note: I AM SOOOOOO SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE. I have had some of the worst luck with the severe weather that ripped through my state this past week. Also, I had to contend with an important application as well. I lost power twice at home and three times at school. It is times like these, that I am glad that I write out my stories first before typing them. I lost some of the chapters due to the lost power. But don't fret, they're all written down - as a means of back up. :)

I am trying to win at the local regions again this year for Agricultural Education through the FFA. I have recieved amazing support through various kinds of "Good Luck Kayla". My favorite was that someone wrote that for me on my car! I will also be competitng in a public speaking competition on the same day that I find out if I win or not this year.

AP exams are comming up soon. As well as finals. Those are in 7 weeks too. My graduation date is nearing and my senior year in high school is almost over. So, if I miss any deadline dates, then it could be any of those reasons listed above. Please dont get angry with more.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Alex Rider series, nor its characters. However, I do own this story that I am writing as fan fiction. Try to steal it and I'll be furious. Write your own story, even if you are bad at writing. I'm not the best either, but practice improves your writing skills.

Okay, Okay. I'm shutting up now. Here's the next chapter. p.s. I will probably be changing the rating soon. This chapter contains a horrible scene with two murders revolving around Rebecca Strome's past and why she is what she is. You've been warned.

Chapter 6:

"Alex, how has school been?" Alex's psychologist began. Dr. Medlynn was a short, average looking woman. She had a roundish face with soft green eyes and brown hair. She had fair skin and loved to talk.

"Egh. The same." Was his ownly curt reply.

"Please, describe." Dr. Medlynn counteracted to Alex's previous response.

"Ap German is easy because I'm already fluent in German. Biology - honors is... consuming." Alex struggled for the right word then.

"What do you mean by that, Alex? How is it consuming?" Spoke the psychologist.

"It takes a minimum of two hours to complete a typical cascade - which is more of a curt form of annotating." "I see." Was her response. "And your other two classes?"

"Teacher assisting is tiresome and art class is plain easy. Nothing much to say really."

Dr. Medlynn paused to take some notes. "What about sports and work, Alex?" She asked sometime later.

"Soccer is great. My team is excited, we're doing very well right now. I personally think we have a shot at playoffs." And your work, Alex?" Geez, way to switch the subject Alex thought.

"Payment is good. As I said many times before, I just have to be careful when I spar with younger children, like Sensei Ricardi. What would hurt a lot to an eight year old, barely would phaze me. I teach unarmed offense and defense. Kicks and punches can pack a lot of power. Sensei Ricardi is a great man - who, like me - cares about the kids."

Alex stoppeed himself suddenly. Unconciously, he revealed another part of him that he tried to keep hidden from everyone else for so long. Alex knew the exact dangers of becomming emotionally attached to someone - anyone really. He lived with the consequences on a daily basis: Sabina's father being targeted and wounded (though that really wasn't Alex's fault and he knew it. Still, he blamed himself for it), Sabina being kinapeed, Tom getting shot while he attended Brooklynn with Alex, Alex's family - all murdered and dead, and even Jack was murdered because of Alex. All of these people had their lives placed in unnecessary peril - all because of Alex.

Now the psychologist revealed a new aspect of Alex's life. Right in front of him as if he was merely an open book.

Dr. Medlynn knew she would not have this opportunity again for a long time. She took advantage of the "revelation" to dig a little deeper into Alex's mind. "Do you fear hurting the kids, Alex? I mean this as in hurting them in ways that are more painful than a little bruising?" She smiled at herself. She had finally managed to chipped a little more of the ice awaqy - so to speak - and felt proud for it.

Alex bit his lip; struggling for a good, neutral response. In the end he just replied: "Yes, but I do my best to hold back and that has helped me teach the lessons better. I KNOW when to act and react without hurting someone. Holding back when necessary too. But, that does not mean that I don't know how to kill."

The last sentence was a clear, subtle warning that Alex gave which told the lady to back off. She caught on immediately. Afraid of what he might say next, she moved on to her next question. Slowly, pissing off Alex more and more.

Glancing at the clock, Alex knew he had 45 minutes left before his 60 minute session was over.

(***)

Ms. Lyell and Mr. Strome was sitting in the newly designed confrence room in the recently finished warehouse. Well, mostly finished. Now, the designers were placing all the items stragegically around the converted warehouse. It was four in the afternoon and everything was on schedule. The three interior designers were currently stocking the medical offices. Once they were finished, they too would leave silently. Passing the security desk to log their final departure.

Michael and Rebecca was staring that the finished document that the yound man presented to them. It contained over 600 pages of information. It was designed perfectly. Micheal remembered the meeting last night very well.

It was almost 7 o'clock pm and the meeting between Rebecca, Michael and the young man - Dimitri was comming to a close.

"Well, Dimitri, this is an impressive document and I am quite... pleased with it. Yo soy estoy contentento con el documento." She reverted back to her native language for a moment. She only did this when she knew she would become even happier with what she did next.

"You are hereby accepted by the Tribal Regimen." As soon as she said this, she pulled a gun out from under the table and shot the man as she stood effortlessly. He collasped immediately. Michael was not shocked one bit with what he saw. "Michael, be a dear and have the guards collect Dimitri. He needs to be sent to our training facilities now, while he sleeps."

She stood to leave the room. Her copy of the printed document was left of the table. Michael did as he told. She was technically, his boss for this assignment and did not want to piss her off. Even if she was only eighteen.

Now, Michael and Rebecca was reviewing each child that was going to be sold on the black market. Kidnapping was a serious crime. Michael felt utter despair. He knew what would happen to these kids, but he wasn't in any condition to stop it. Not yet at least. Rebecca on the other hand couldn't wait to "play" with some of the kids.

Michael knew that Rebecca's father had molested her until the age of 16. He also abused Rebecca's mother as well. Rebecca's father was litterally a drunk, crazy man. He always reeked of alochol.

One evening, Rebecca's father became furious towards his wife when she did not inform him of her workshift at the hospital the night before. In his fit of rage, Rebecca's father slammed her mother's head on the ground repeatedly over and over again. When Rebecca found out what had happened - she even saw the tail end of it - she grabbed the closet kitchen knife and stabbed it into her father's skull. Killing him instantly.

Fearing the worst, Rebecca picked up her mother and placed her in her mom's car; driving as fast as she could to the hospital. But, she was too late. Her mom died in the car. Rebecca cried when the doctors wheeled her to the morgue. All the doctors and nurses cried for Rebecca's mother as well. She was the best nurse that the hospital had seen since Helen Rider worked there, in London. Helen too had passed away, sixteen years ago.

Later, police questioned Rebecca. Who killed her mother?... Where was her father?... etc. All Rebecca told them was: "He's been taken care of." Three hours later, when the police went to go and question her father, they found him dead at the scene.

By then, Rebecca had changed. She was no longer the sweet and bubbly girl that people knew her to be. Now, she tortured people to try and get rid of the horrible last memories of her mother. Three days on the run, the Tribal Regimen leader found Rebecca in Rome and gave her a home and a seat on the board. He saw the unstableness in her and wanted it for his organization. Since then, she has been a valuable asset for the founder - just like Michael.

(***)

Ben sighed as he watched Alex's therapy session in a seperate room. He could see that the psychologist was making Alex angry with each passing minute; but it had to be done. MI6 WANTED Alex to finally open to people around him. Until he did, he was forced to go to two therapy sessions a week. Each, 60 minutes long each Thurday and Sunday.

Now Alex stopped talking altogether. He refused to answer Dr. Medlynn's remaining questions. Ben actually saw Alex's fingers curl in and uncurl themselves. The wasn't good. Ben wanted to help Alex, and stop him before hurting the psychologist. Ben couldn't blame Alex either for the fury that was consuming Alex. If Ben had had Alex's therapist as well, he would have punched her weeks ago. He was amazed at how Alex restrained himself. But, that didn't take away from the current seriousness of the issue.

Ben took notes on the session - everything he saw had he furiously written in a timeline table with five minute intervals. Mrs. Jones needed to know about this. The psychologist was not helping him at all.

"Dr. Medlynn, why did you ask Alex all those questions? Could you not see that he wanted to punch you?" Ben demanded answers from the psychologist.

"In order for Alex to come to terms with himself, he needs to accept all his faults that he created during his days as a spy. Only then, will he be able to forgive himself and move on." was the doctors only reply. She was watching Ben with avid curiosity.

"And how does this get Alex to open up to people again?" Ben replied in an annoyed tone. This is what he wanted to know the most. She was preventing him from knowing the answer and it was really beginning to piss him off.

Dr. Medlynn shrugged in the red velvet chair that she was sitting in. The she stood up and left her office. Never answering Ben's question. Ben, now felt remorse for Alex. Ben only lasted 5 minutes talking to this woman, and wanted to slap he silly. Alex on the other hand had delt with her for the past year. This psychologist was only creating more problems for Alex, not fixing the current ones.

A moment or two later, Ben deduced that the psychologized left the building. Only her secretary remained in the psychologist's office. Ben too stood up before walking out the french doors and out into the early evening that Thursday night.

(***)

"... Mrs. Jones, I do not see any progress that the therapist has made when concerning his therapy sessions. You should have seen Alex today. He looked like he was going to punch the doctor. I don't care if she is the best therapist doctor for secret service men in the United States. She is going about Alex's therapy in a wrong way and it's hurting him more than its helping him!" Ben did not realize that he was ranting on the bed in his hotel room. But it felt good. He knew, deep down that this was the best way that Ben could help Alex.

"So, what do you propose we should do; Ben?" Mrs. Jones asked?

"Alex needs a new therapist - but one who understands teenagers better. Is there anyone that you know of Mrs. jones?" Ben was sincerly concerned for Alex. Alex should have improved in the past year, but there was nothing about him that did improve.

"I do." was her reply.

(***)

AN: So, what do you think, oh, and if you've been reading this story closly, then you would know that the kidnappings have started. The next chapter was begin with all the action scenes! I promise. I've even started writing it! I know that I am behind in updating some chapters. I'll be caught up by the end of next week. Until, then, review whenever you want to. It helps me improve my writing, but it would be nice to read reviews every once it a while without any advice in it for improvements.

Also, I just wanted to give biblioholic. One of her reviews gave me the idea to dig some into Rebecca's past to explain why she is on the board at the age of 18. I purposely left out some information about Rebecca's past. Those tidbits will come in later, as well as Michael Strome and the leader of the Tribal Regimen whose name will not be mention yet.


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